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Not only are there these two signs, but there are also two gatherings:
'For wheresoever the carcase is, there will the eagles be gathered
together (sunago)' (Matt. 24:28).
'He shall send His angels with a trumpet, and a great voice (margin),
(a Hebraism possibly, but suggestive of 1 Thess. 4:16), and they shall
gather together (episunago) His elect from the four winds, from one end
of heaven to the other' (Matt. 24:31).
None need be deceived. Look at the difference between some
pettifogging, 'Behold, He is in the desert' or 'Behold, He is in the secret
chambers', and the worldwide, open, and manifest shining 'from the east even
unto the west'. Or again, the actual gathering together of the elect 'from
one end of heaven to the other'. Some have been deceived by being told that
the Millennium has already dawned, and that Christ has already come in
secret. The very sign of the times! There will be no true possibility of
saying, 'Lo, here' or 'Lo, there', for neither the Beast nor the False
Prophet can cause the sun to be darkened, nor the moon to cease to give her
light, neither can they cause the stars to fall from heaven nor the powers of
heaven to be shaken. And these things are the immediate forerunners of the
Lord: 'And then shall appear the sign of the Son of man in heaven' (Matt.
24:30).
The structure of the second answer concerning the 'sign of His Coming'
may be set out as follows:
A
24:24.
The false signs.
B 24:26,27. Not 'In the secret place' but like the lightning, etc.
C 24:28.
The gathering.
Eagles, carcase.
B 24:29.
Sun, moon, stars.
A
24:30.
The sign of the Son of man.
C 24:31.
The gathering.
Angels, elect.
As one considers the warnings given in this passage, one wonders what
will be the outcome of much that goes by the name of Pentecostalism today.
Believing men and women are agonizing in prayer for 'signs and wonders'.
What will they do when the signs suddenly appear? It is blessed to know that
the very elect will not be finally deceived, but some will come perilously
near to it.
The Second Coming 'dated'!
The close of the answer to the question concerning the 'sign' merges
into the third answer, which deals with the question: 'when shall these
things be?' We say the Second Coming is dated, yet we would not be
misunderstood. We feel called upon to repudiate all attempts to fix a date
for the Coming of the Lord, whether by computations of dates from Scripture,
the year -day theory, or from the so -called divine chronology of the Great
Pyramid:
'But of that day and hour knoweth no man, no, not the angels of heaven,
but My Father only' (Matt. 24:36).
'It is not for you to know the times or the seasons, which the Father
hath put in His own power' (Acts 1:7).